While the legs of many species of birds are free of spurs or have only vestigial spurs, other bird species such as pheasants, turkeys and chickens have very pronounced spurs. And birds with spurs instinctively know how to use them in defense or aggression.
In the cases of mass-produced farm birds, e.g., chickens and turkeys, raised for human or animal food, injuries caused by other birds are of scant concern. And, of course, it is not possible to prevent birds in the wild from injuring (or perhaps even killing) one another with their spurs.
But in the matter of birds which are specially bred for show or in anticipation of a prize or recognition, injury is a greater (often much greater) concern. As an example, a specially-bred prize turkey may be worth several hundred dollars when the bird is free of injury and become essentially worthless if, say, it is blinded in one eye by the spur of another bird. And it should be appreciated that birds are relatively fragile--it takes very little by way of a scratch or blow from a spur to inflict injury, especially to the eye.
The matter of potential injury is aggravated by the fact that, often, two or more birds are kept in a single cage. And some breeds of birds tend to be more high-strung and "edgy" than others and have a propensity to fight when so caged.
Some breeders of birds remove substantially the entirety of both leg spurs and the bird is thereby said to have "slipped spurs." But a vestigial stump remains and birds instinctively use that part of the leg for defense or aggression. Therefore, covering the vestigial stumps can be important in preventing bird injury.
To help prevent spur-related injuries to birds, spur "muffs" have been available for many years. A popular muff has a generally spherical outer cover made of sewn vinyl or leather and having four seams spaced about 90.degree. apart. Such outer cover is stuffed with a padded fabric liner having a depression which receives the spur when the muff is fitted to the leg of the bird.
A strap made of vinyl or leather has an opening through which the cover fits and the stuffed cover and strap are sewn together at the cover-strap junction. One of the straps has an elastic band (i.e., a band comprised of both fabric and rubber) attached to it. To affix the muff, the cover is fitted over the spur, the strap ends are wrapped about the leg of the bird and the elastic band is wrapped and looped over the cover to hold the muff in place.
While such known muffs have been generally satisfactory for their intended purpose, they are not without disadvantages. For example, their manufacture is labor intensive and requires a good deal of hand fitting and sewing. But more to the point of injury prevention, each seam represents a slightly-raised discontinuity in the surface of the cover and to the human touch, such seams are perceptibly harder than the adjacent cover material and are themselves believed to be the cause of some injuries.
And hardness of seams is not the only concern. Muffs made of leather become noticeably harder as to the non-seamed portion when the muff is repeatedly wetted and then allowed to dry. Such hardness alone, absent any concerns relating to seams, can function to convert the muff from a protective cover to something of a weapon.
Whether or not the cover is made of sewn vinyl or leather, the thin outer cover becomes scuffed or "scabbed" in normal usage. This adverse change in surface texture can be a contributor to injury.
Yet another disadvantage of known spur muffs is that the surface of the strap which contacts the bird's leg is relatively smooth. As a consequence, such strap has little resistance to slipping on the leg.
Still another disadvantage of known muffs relates to the elastic band which is more-or-less permanently connected to one of the muff straps. Like most elastic products, the band tends to "go slack" over time and become less effective as a holding device. And when its effectiveness diminishes to an intolerable level, the band must be cut or pulled from the strap and a replacement effected.
A new spur shrouding device which addresses shortcoming of the prior art would be an important advance in the field of animal husbandry.